Jamal Mahmoud will lead Palestine for the third time in an unofficial friendly ahead of next month's Pan-Arab Games. This time the opponent will be the Lega Pro Select team that the Olympic team defeated 3-0 in June.

Contrary to what has been reported the team that has travelled is not the Olympic side. In fact, there are some players who are over the age limit of 23 (Suleiman Obeid, Ma'ly Kawre', Khader Youssef, Raed Fares):

Goalkeeper:

Amr Abu Rweis (Balata)

Toufic Ali (Wadi Al-Nes)

Defenders:

Ahmad Salameh (Al-Am'ary)

Mustafa Abu Kweik (Al-Bireh)

Adham Abu Rweis (Balata)

Raed Fares (Hilal Al-Quds)

Nadim Barghouthi (Shabab Al-Khaleel)

Midfielders:

Suleiman Obeid (Al-Am'ary)

Mahmoud "El-Koori" Salah (Al-Am'ary)

Ma'ly Kawre' (Al-Am'ary)

Abdelhamid Abuhabib (Balata)

Ali El-Khatib (Hilal Al-Quds)

Ahmed Me'ari (Hilal Al-Quds)

Khader Youssef (Wadi Al-Nes)

Amjad Zidan (Wadi Al-Nes)

Forwards:

Hazem "Lazarus" El-Reikhawy (Shabab Al-Dhahrieh)

Khaled Salem (Shabab Al-Dhahrieh)

Jamal Mahmoud has given a lifeline to Ali El-Khatib who was handed a yearlong suspension by Hilal Al-Quds for alleged match fixing. Mahmoud was in charge of Hilal Al-Quds when that suspension was doled out- so this development is bizarre, to say the least.

This game will give an opportunity to some of the Olympic Team players to win a spot on the senior team. Jamal Mahmoud's inclusion of senior team players should give an idea of how they will mesh with the current setup.

The Opponents

Perhaps the most impressive thing about them is that they will be lead by Marcello Lippi- Yes, the same guy who managed Italy to World Cup glory in 2006 and World Cup ignominy in 2010. The squad will be made up of the most promising young players in Italy's third division. Only Walter Zullo was part of the squad that lost 3-0 to Palestine in Dora.

Miscellaneous

The will be overseen by an all-female crew of referees led by Silvia Tea Spinelli. The national team has been kitted out- puffy jackets and all- by Legea. The jersey unveiled at the press conference looked like an Atletico de Madrid or Red Star Belgrade shirt with prominent red and white stripes.

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